Pride parade: annual march in Taipei by some 50,000 supporters of Taiwan’s LGBT community

Craig Ferguson · LightRocket · Getty

Taiwan’s Supreme Court ruled on 24 May that the law on marriage was unconstitutional because it defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman and therefore did not treat all citizens equally. The crowd went wild as a giant TV screen, set up well away from the court building in Taipei, relayed the verdict; rainbow flags waved, and there were tears of joy. Meanwhile, in front of the court, opponents of same-sex marriage chanted: ‘Stop examining the law and let the people decide!’

The Republic of China’s highest legal authority gave the National Assembly two years to amend the legislation, failing which same-sex marriage will automatically be registered; in doing so, it effectively conceded that same-sex marriage will soon become legal. President Tsai Ing-wen, elected in 2016. believes it time for the people of Taiwan to pull together. Shortly after the announcement, she wrote on Facebook: ‘The constitutional ruling is neither a victory nor a defeat. No matter what our position on the same-sex marriage issue may be, this is a time when must we see all those around us as our brothers and sisters.’

The ruling was the result of two petitions filed in 2015: one by Taipei City Government, asking for an interpretation of the law after a civil suit was brought against it for refusing to register the marriages of three homosexual couples; the other by Chi Chia-wei, a pioneering campaigner for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) rights in Taiwan. Chi, then aged 57, applied to the Supreme Court after the household registry office refused to register his marriage to his partner. The ruling was a major victory for Chi, who was once jailed for having publicly come out as gay. Taiwan today considers itself progressive, but it has not always led the fight for LGBT rights in Asia; 30 years ago, living there openly as gay was unthinkable.

When Chi was arrested in 1986, the country was under martial law. But an opposition movement known as Dangwai (Outside (...)

Student on the Europe and Asia in Global Affairs programme at Sciences Po (Paris) and Fudan University (Shanghai).

Alice Hérait

Student in international relations (Inalco — National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations, Paris).

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Translated by Charles Goulden

Eva Aing is studying on the Europe and Asia in Global Affairs programme at Sciences Po (Paris) and Fudan University (Shanghai); Alice Hérait has a masters in international relations from Inalco (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations, Paris).

(3) The term benshengren (person from this province) refers to Taiwanese whose families came to the island before 1945; those whose families arrived after 1945 are waishengren (person from outside the province).